, 1887-06-02
CROWN JEWELS.
FRANCE DECIDES THAT SHE HAS
NO FURTHER USE FOR THEM.
Famous Diamonds which Have Figured
in History and In the Finances of
Some French Noble Families--A Last
Look at the Treasures.
Special Correspondence,


PARIS, April 30
After much discussion In the daily press,
and several debates in both houses of the
French parliament, the sale of the famous
crown diamonds Of France is on the eve OF its
accomplishment. Crhe sale VIII take place
May 12) During the past weeks these pre-
cious jewels have been exposed to the public
gaze, and thousands of people have crowded
one Of the large rooms of the Pavilion de
Flore--a wing OF the Tuileries-to take last |
look at them before they are dispersed to the |
four quarters of the earth. The Partisan |
papers are naturally just now full of this
subject. Perhaps the best account Of the ad-
ventures attending the growth of this royal
collection is that given by NJ German Bapst,
to whom | am indebted for most of the fol-
lowing interesting facts:
In the summer of 1850, when Francis was
on his way to the Spanish frontier to meet
his future wife and the future queen of
France, Eleanor of Austria, sister of Charles
" he created at Bordeaux the Treasure of
the Crown Jewels by presenting to the
state part Of his most precious diamonds,
consisting of large necklace and six other
jewels, worth to-day nearly 100000 francs.
Most of these precious stones once belonged
to the able Ann Of Brittany, the wife of two
kings of France, who received them from
Margaret OF Folk. One of them was a mag
nificent diamond, which was known all
through the sixteenth century as the "Beau-
tful Pointe" while q still more celebrated
ruby, weighing 2O0 carats, was called tine
Coast of Brittany
This ruby has had very clreckered history.
During the wars of religion it, along with
two other large rubies, was given to the Duke
of Florence as a guarantee Of the repayment
of 100, 600 crowns lent the fGGuch king. This
happened ia 1863, and two years later the
Jewels were restored to the state collection
But Henry III needed money in 1888 and they
were handed over to certain Legrand for
g3+7, ,000 Iegrand died without being rem-
bursed and it was not until the time of Loui
XIV, nearly century lHter, that Legrand's
heirs were repaid by Colbert and the Jewels
restored once more to the crown. The
"Coast of Brittany which was valued at
500. 900, was stolen from the state during the
stormy days of the French revolution.
The crown diamonds were employed by
! the rulers during the ancient regime not only
to fill an empty treasury but to ransom
towns. Thus, in 1864 Catherine de Medc
| offered the English q diamond for which
| Francis paid 5000 crowns, provided they
! would surrender Calais to France Five
! years later the Venetian republic lent tho
| queen mother 200, 600 crowns, and received rs
| q guarantee cross containing nine dia-
monds and valued at 80 600 crowns and two
| tabulated diamonds worth 110 900 crowns
Under Henry III the finances Of the country
fell into such disorder that every state jewel
was disposed OF. John Casimir, Count Pala-
| tine, carried Off most of them to Heidelberg,
! and, having placed them under glass cases on
a wagon, exposed them to the view of his
subjects.
Henry Nv exerted every effort to restore
| = ~,t, ,k,x xI...1 l.
was nh'v seconded bv his great minister Suly
and by Nicholas harlay de Sancy, ~nose
name has been inseparably assoca el with
| the crown Jewels Of France. De Sancy was
at one time colonel OF the Swiss guards, ut
| another time a diplomat and again a finan-
| cier. He possessed several diamonds with
which he raised considerable money for
Henry of Navarro when the latter WAS maxi
ing that desperate and finally successful
struggle for the crown OF France Among
these precious stones was the one that still
bears De Sancy's name, and which
he sold in 1904 u James / of
| England, when the English revolution
! broke out, II .nrietta Maria, daughter of
Henry ", of France, and wife of the unfor
tunate Charles I, son of James I, carried off
to her native land this valuable diamond
Being in need of money, the exiled English
queen obtained from the Duke d'Eperon
e36O. 900 on thiS and another stone known as
the mirror OF Polrugnl,' As Henrietta was
unable to redeem her jewels they were sold
in 1861 to Cardinal NlAarin, who, at his
DEATH left them, as well as sixteen other dia-
monds, to Louis XIV. These diamonds are
known as the Eighteen Mazarins," the first
being the ''Sancy," the second tabulated
diamond, and the third the mirror of Por-
tugal." The first and the third were stolen
. | IL, USAnpx,N H,o llx, ;,,,
sion of Charles w of Spain, who, during
the hard times Of the French invasion of the
peninsula, sold 1t to raise money for prosecut-
ing the war, and in 1929 it became the prop
erty OF the Denidoffs, wealthy noble Rus
sian family.
The celebrated Regent diamond found its
way to the collection in l7l7. 1t was at first
placed in the center of the royal crown, and
when Louis XIV was proclaimed king the
Bourbon lily, which was added to the crown
had the San"y diamond as its central stone.
Marie Antoinette loved to adom herself with
these crown jewels, and she was particularly
fond of a set of ruhes estimated to be worth
IA, 600 francs. One day she had her jeweler
rearrange them, and added so many diamonds
that it was impossible to tell which were her
own and which she had taken from the royal
crown.
During the French revolution thieves broke
into the room where the precious treasure
was kept and carried Off nearly all Of the
jewels. Arrests were made, several heads
were cut off and some OF the diamonds were
recovered. But a whole year passed before
the "Regent" was found in dram shop in the
Faubourg st. Germain quarter Of Paris. The
day Napoleon I was crowned emperor al
Notre Dame he carried this famous diamond
on the hilt Of his sword.
| Napo1aou bIx, <l,s
crown jewels. In 1911 he bought not less thar
5000, 900 francs worth Of diamonds. During
the reign Of Louis Philippe his queen did moi
use the crown jewels, and during the Repub
lie of lS4S another theft was committed, dia
monds valued at f292 600 being carried of
These crown jewels seem always to have suf
fered during republican regimes. May moi
this be one Of the reasons why the third re-
public wishes to dispose Of them and rid it.
self of the responsibility Of guarding them
The present government has, wisely,
IT. 1l-u